Corncob is an agricultural biomass waste that was widely investigated as an adsorbent of contaminants after transforming it into activated carbon. In this research carbonization and chemical activation processes were achieved to synthesize corncob-activated carbon (CAC). Many pretreatment steps including crushing, grinding, and drying to obtain corncob powder were performed before the carbonization step. The carbonization of corncob powder has occurred in the absence of air at a temperature of 500 °C. The chemical activation was accomplished by using HCl as an acidic activation agent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) facilitated the characterization of (CAC). The results showed the CAC has non-uniform morphological features with different shapes of its active sites. The prepared CAC was utilized in adsorption of sulfur in its highly complex form of dibenzothiophene (DBT). Particular adsorption parameters of contacting time, temperature, and adsorbent dose were optimized to select the best conditions. These certain conditions are then applied in the adsorption of different DBT concentrations. The maximum removal of DBT reached around 83% at optimal conditions of contacting time (30 min), temperature (60 °C), and adsorbent dose (3 g L-1). The removal efficiency was significantly increased by decreasing the initial concentration of DBT. The experimental data fitted well with the Freundlich isotherm model compared with the Langmuir one. The maximum capacity of CAC for adsorption of DBT at equilibrium was 833.3 mg g-1 at 60 °C. The findings of this research introduce the CAC as a feasible adsorbent for removal DBT from simulated liquid petroleum fuels.
Antimicrobial and antiyeast activity of ethanolic and aqueous extract of grape fruit seed (Citrus paradise ; Rutaceaa) was examined against 10 bacterial and 2 yeast strains. The level of the antimicrobial effects was established using an in vitro agar assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). In general ethanolic extract were more effective on gram positive bacteria than gram negative bacteria and strongest antimicrobial effect against Streptococcus pyogenes and Salmonella entritidis. Other tested bacteria and yeasts were sensitive to extract ranging from 4 to 16 mg/ml and more.
A simple and novel membraneless paper-based microfluidic fuel cell was presented in this study. The occurrence of laminar flow was employed to ensure no mixing of the fuel and oxidant fluids along the bath of reaction. The acidic wastewater was used as a fuel. It was an air-breathing cell, so air and tab water were used as oxidants. Both the fuel and tab water flowed continuously under gravity. Whatman filter paper was used for preparation of the fuel cell channel and two carbon fibre electrodes were used and firmed on the edges of the cell. The performance of the cell was examined over three consecutive days. The results indicated that the present cell has the potential to generate electric power, but an extensive study is required to harv
... Show MoreTight oil reservoirs have been a concerned of the oil industry due to their substantial influence on oil production. Due to their poor permeability, numerous problems are encountered while producing from tight reservoirs. Petrophysical and geomechanical rock properties are essential for understanding and assessing the fracability of reservoirs, especially tight reservoirs, to enhance permeability. In this study, Saadi B reservoir in Halfaya Iraqi oil field is considered as the main tight reservoir. Petrophysical and geomechanical properties have been estimated using full-set well logs for a vertical well that penetrates Saadi reservoir and validated with support of diagnostic fracture injection test data employing standard equations
... Show MoreOil flow lines are used to transport oil and its derivatives from a well over long distances, and because oil wells produce other potentially corrosive products, such as carbon dioxide and Hydrogen sulfide, it is necessary to take methods to protect the pipeline from corrosion. One of these methods is the use of corrosion inhibitors in this study. Prepare 5-acetyl-2-anilino-4-dimethylaminothiazole and test it as a corrosion inhibitor on a sample of the Rumaila flow line at a constant temperature 25°C in (3.5%) NaCl and (3.5%) KCl solution in the absence and presence of different concentrations of inhibitor (0 mM, 0.01 mM, 0.03 M, 0.05 mM). by using liner polarization (Tafel slope). The inhibiter exhibited the best performance at hi
... Show MoreThin films ZrO2: MgO nanostructure have been synthesized by a radio frequency magnetron plasma sputtering technique at different ratios of MgO (0,6, 8 and 10)% percentage to be used as the gas sensor for nitrogen dioxide NO2. The samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and sensing properties were also investigated. The average particle size of all prepared samples was found lower than 33.22nm and the structure was a monoclinic phase. The distribution of grain size was found lower than36.3 nm and uninformed particles on the surface. Finally, the data of sensing properties have been discussed, where the
... Show MoreA significant increase in the incidence of non-O157 verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) infections have become a serious health issues, and this situation is worsening due to the dissemination of plasmid mediated multidrug-resistant microorganisms worldwide. This study aims to investigate the presence of plasmid-mediated verotoxin gene in non-O157 E. coli. Standard microbiological techniques identified a total of 137 E. coli isolates. The plasmid was detected by Perfectprep Plasmid Mini preparation kit. These isolates were subjected to disk diffusion assay, and plasmid curing with ethidium bromide treatment. The plasmid containing isolates were subjected to a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for investigating
... Show MoreIn this study the adsorption of cefixime on to selected Iraqi clay bentonite. The aim of this study is to search for selective active surface in adsorption of the drug and to act as physical antidotes in treatment of poisoning if the drug is taken in quantities higher than the recommended dosages. Quantitative estimation of the drug adsorption has been done by utilizing the technique of UV spectrophotometry in λmax (273) nm at different conditions of temperature (25, 37, 45) ˚C found the adsorption decrease with increase the temperature. Study of clay weight of bentonite (0.1-1.5) gm found the adsorption increase with increase of clay weight, study effect of pH (1.2, 3, 5, 7) on adsorption of bentonite found the optimum adsorption
... Show MorePhysical adsorption by nitrogen gas was studied on seven commercial platinum reforming catalysts (RG-402, RG-412, RG-432, RG-451, RG 422,RG-482, PS-10), four prepared platinum catalysts (0.1%Pt/alumina, 0.2 %Pt/alumina, 0.45 %Pt/alumina and 0.55% Pt/alumina), and -alumina support. Physical adsorption was carried out by using Accelerated Surface Area and Porosimetry (ASAP 2400 device) at 77 K . The results indicate that the surface area in genaral decreases with increasing platinum percentage, high platinum loaded (0.45% and 0.55%) it was found that the percent increasing in surface area was lower than those obtained for low platinum loaded catalysts , and at very higher platinum loading 0.6 %Pt , some reduction in surface area was
... Show MoreThe need for wireless sensing technology has rapidly increased recently, specifically the usage of electromagnetic waves which becoming more required as a source of information. Silicon carbide (SiC) Nano particles has been used in this study, the material under test (MUT) was exposed directly to a microwave field to examine the electromagnetic behavior. The permittivity and permeability were investigated with different filler materials to approach best and optimal electromagnetic absorbing characteristics to assist engineers to monitor structure-based composite for defects evaluation that may occur during operation conditions or through manufacturing process. XRD, FESEM and both complex permittivity and permeability were measured f
... Show More